Based on a true story of a heist gone wrong. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/15/2008 Starring: Jason Statham Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R Director: Roger Donaldson
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Bank Job (click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Very Good Caper Film Based on "The Baker Street Robbery":
"The Bank Job" may not be the greatest caper film ever made, but it is definitely a hugely entertaining one--that is, as long as you ignore plot holes and certain elements familiar in the gangster film genre. The heist film's story, reportedly based on the real crime "The Baker Street Robbery" that happened in London in 1971, is a bit too complicated with subplots about the royal family, corrupt cops, honest cops, a brothel and a political activist, but the fast-paced film is always light and captivating at... more info
oh, them crazy royals...:
I don't think I'll ever get tired of heist pictures, and if the heist picture also turns out to be a period piece, then my fan joy cup doth runneth over, brother! THE BANK JOB serves up grand larceny and its nasty aftermath. The film re-enacts the daring "true-to-life" robbery which went down in 1971, on Baker Street, East London. Back in the day, the Lloyds Bank heist made very big noise in British media, for a bit of time anyway, until the British authorities issued a D-Notice which effectively gagged the... more info
ok flik:
Statham is always great, but this movie was slow and boring. The only good part is that its a true story. And the English accents drove me crazy.
If you want a great movie, its not this one. Watch Street Kings!!
Surprisingly exciting:
I didn't know anything about this film prior to seeing it other than that it was based on a true story about a group of English petty criminals who decide to tunnel beneath a bank in order to rob safe deposit boxes. The heist is the idea of a woman played by Saffron Burrows, who has a specific and ulterior motive for wanting to rob a certain safe deposit box. Jason Statham shows that he's grown as an actor in this one. He's moved beyond simply scowling and karate chopping people in the windpipe. His... more info
